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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Tuesday, January 17, 2012 7 With valuable trades, look to Yankees FOOTBALL Bubba Brown STAFF WRITER The rumble felt across American League cities late Friday night was a sleeping giant awakening from an off-season snooze. After spending the majority of the off season conspicuously absent from the headlines, the Yankees made two surprising moves within a span of just minutes Friday night that left the rest of the league seeing pinstripes. First to break was news that the Yankees sent stud-hitting prospect Jesus Montero to the Mariners to trade for Michael Pineda. Pineda will immediately slide in as the Yanks' third-best starter and has the chance to develop into a second ace alongside CC Sabathia. While it seems like a productive trade for both sides — the Mariners' runs-starved offense will certainly benefit from Montero's elite hitting prowess — the Yankees didn't have to give up much in real value. Montero, a catcher in the minors, doesn't fit anywhere defensively at the major league level, a downside that was likely going to keep him from ever becoming a big contributor in New York. With Twitter still, well, atwitter following the announcement of the trade, news came that the Yankees had also signed Hiroki Kuroda, one of baseball's most underrated pitchers. The former Dodgers' righty has combined for 6.5 WAR and an ERA in the low threes over the past two seasons, and he'll fit in perfectly between Sabathia and Pineda in the revamped rotation. Together, the moves significantly improve the already good Yankees, especially since they didn't have to give up any meaningful production to make them. The Yankees' biggest weakness — a thin rotation — is immediately shored up, as they now feature a one-two-three punch that matches up with the American Leagues' best. The hodgepodge cast of Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes started a combined 97 games last season. Still, the Yankees somehow won nearly roo games in the notoriously JEFF MCGRATH/The Daily Utah Chronicle Jon Hays throws the ball at the Sun Bowl. Hays became the determining factor in the 3027 win at the Sun Bowl in December. Hays survived as interim quarterback Jake Bullinger ASST. SPORTS EDITOR RED ROCKS continued from Page 6 With a comfortable cushion, the squads moved the portion of the meet that allowed the Red Rocks to mount the comeback against UCLA. As in Los Angeles, the Red Rocks performed phenomenally on the third rotation, balance beam, to boost their already huge lead. A fall by Aggie Jenna Saxton on floor doomed USU's (o-r) rotation, as she yielded just a 8.2 from the judges. Robarts led the U on the rotation with a 9.9o. The lowest score was a solid 9.825 from fellow freshman Kassandra Lopez. A fan favorite, the Red Rocks closed the meet with another impressive floor set, scoring a 49.350 . "Without question, this is the strongest floor team we've had for a long, long time," Marsden said. rTh [3801 ha' elo 13 balls in Utah's blowout win over UCLA. In all, Hays threw 20.3 passes per game after the loss to Cal. Initially, it appeared Whittingham's strategy was a harm reduction approach, but Hays also benefitted from the scheme change. His numbers improved as he went five consecutive games without an interception, and he threw nine touchdowns in those final six games. "We got on a little hot streak there, and that definitely helped with my comfort level," Hays said. "Throughout the second half of the season, except for the Colorado game, I was happy with my progression and I want to keep that progression going throughout the spring." If Hays wants to challenge for playing time next season, that progression will have to continue at a quicker pace. Jordan Wynn returns next season, and Utah brings in touted freshmen quarterbacks Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen, though Hansen is expected to leave on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Hays went 6-3 as a starter, but his production was the worst among Pac-12 quarterbacks. Utah ranked last in the conference in passing, and a more balanced offense will be critical to future success. "It depends on how he performs. Jordan Wynn is going to go in as the starter, and the two freshmen are going to get a chance," Whittingham said. "They'll determine how it sorts out, not us." Even if Hays' playing time drops next season, he said he will still be grateful for the opportunities he has received at Utah. "The opportunity I've been given here, I never thought I'd have," Hays said. "It's crazy how things [at NebraskaOmaha] worked out, but it all worked out for the better in my case." BROWN StaffWriter brutal AL East. With Pineda and Kuroda in tow, there's every chance they'll eclipse the century mark. If they weren't already, the Yankees are now certainly the favorites to represent the American League in the Fall Classic. If you haven't yet heard pundits singing that song, you'll be sick of it by the time April rolls around. Of course, that's no guarantee of success once they start playing the games. Year after year, a team makes strong off-season moves, and is crowned champion before the season even starts. Last season it was the Phillies with their vaunted rotation and the Red Sox with their intimidating offense. The Phils didn't make it out of the first round of the playoffs, which is more than you can say for the Sox, who authored a stunning September collapse and didn't even make the postseason. Armed with those well-learned lessons, we'll slow down a bit and let the Yankees play a few games before throwing them a ticker-tape parade down Broadway. In the meantime, we'll acknowledge that, as it stands now, New York seem like a much better, more well-rounded team than the version that won 97 games last year. Whether that ends up being enough to bring a World Series title back to New York, where tragically there are suffering 2-year-olds that haven't seen a Yankees championship in their lifetimes, remains to be seen. All we can judge for sure, before a pitch is thrown, is that the Yankees stormed in from a rare winter slumber just in time to win the off season. bubba@ chronicle.utah.edu University MEDIA SALES GROUP 5 9 4 1 ANSWER TO TODAY'S PUZZLE 7 3 6 87 29 9 6 8 3 81 53 1 2 9 4 7 1 9 2 7 8 I After a season that even the most hardened veteran would consider tumultuous, Utah's fate in the Sun Bowl rested on the shoulders of Jon Hays. The Utes faced a fourth-and-r4 on the Georgia Tech 28-yard line with fewer than two minutes left in the game. If Hays didn't pull through on this play, Utah would lose its bowl game and finish the season with back-toback disappointing losses. Six games earlier, this would have been a frightening proposition. Hays was widely blamed for Utah's offensive woes after he took over for an injured Jordan Wynn, and he had thrown just three touchdowns to seven interceptions in his first 14 quarters of action, not including garbage time against BYU. At the time, Jon Hays was the last person you wanted to control the outcome of a game. But in the Sun Bowl, Hays was a different quarterback. He was no longer the frantic quarterback that seemed to guarantee a red zone turnover. He had eight starts under his belt, and Division-I football was no longer a strange environment. So, Hays dropped back and connected with DeVonte Christopher down the left sideline for the game-tying 28-yard touchdown. Thanks to Hays' throw, the Utes sent the game into overtime and ended up winning the Sun Bowl with a 30-27 score. The score was a happy ending to the Season of Hays, who will go down as one of the most enigmatic, Jekyll-and-Hyde quarterbacks in Utah history. Hyde was the first quarterback to show up when Hays took over the starting role. After Jordan Wynn sustained a season-ending shoulder injury against Washington, Utah trotted out a quarterback that shouldn't have been playing Division-I football, let alone playing in the Pac-r2. Hays was supposed to play the 2011 season for NebraskaOmaha, but its football team folded, leaving Hays open for recruitment. Utah came swooping in during the summer after it became evident during spring camp that the quarterback depth chart was too thin. Not surprisingly, Hays struggled in the beginning. "He pressed a little bit and tried to do too much," said head coach Kyle Whittingham. "You've got to realize that sometimes it's best to just throw it away and live to play another down. I think that was the turning point in his season when he started playing with that mind-set." Unfortunately for the Utes, it took Hays a while to develop that attitude. Hays' disastrous early season reached its climax when the Utes traveled to San Francisco to take on Cal, one of the Pac-12's best defenses. In the end, Utah dropped the game 34-ro behind Hays' worst performance of the season. Hays threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, and had a fumble. His four turnovers kept Utah's offense from coming close to finding a rhythm. "I was definitely disappointed," Hays said. "There were a lot of my friends and family there. But I knew our season could go one of two ways — one was bad and one was good — and we refocused our offense and we took it upon ourselves to really get better and take care of the football." After Cal eviscerated Utah, Hays wasn't the only person to reevaluate his game. "We were definitely in a predicament, but we [the coaching staff] didn't panic," Whittingham said. "It took a while for us to find out what [Hays] did best, so I think once we got past that bump in the road, he settled in and did a very nice job playing quarterback for us." Whittingham's answer to Hays' struggles: throw less. Immediately after the Cal game, Hays attempted just 14 passes in a win against Oregon State. Two weeks later, Hays threw BUBBA nswers can be found on the website at www.sudoku.com ABE HISS COOP TS LAC ARCO ADWEEK BERTLAHR SESAME AZURE WEEP R PI O S C A R M A D I SON WRA I TH CROC I AN ES SE MELEE GROVERCLEVELAND S A D I E RODE I D I A N T E A F I R S T TELLYS AVALAS ORO EMI T JEWEL S TREET ERNI EELS CE DA RS RIOT AMA S AGA LOT AS SURE popcultureconucs.com © Doug Bratton 2008 j.bullinger@ chronicle.utah.edu Becky Tutka and Dabritz, who scored 9.875 and 9.975 on floor, respectively, were two of five freshmen to make their debut at the Huntsman Center. "You can't prepare for that," said Dabritz of the home debut. "It was unbelievable." Dabritz leads the country with an average of 9.938 on floor. Though she said it doesn't matter to her, Stephanie McAllister won the all-around competition with a 39.45o. Lothrop scored a 39.3 and Robarts put up a 38.725. Sarah Landes led the Aggies with a 38.25o. "We have the potential [to succeed] if we continue to improve," Marsden said. "We can sincerely compete with anybody. I really think there's no ceiling this year." The Red Rocks will have a bye week before meeting with BYU in Salt Lake City on Jan. 27. r.mcdonald@ chronicle.utah.edu MEET YOUR PERFECT MATCH University FEDERAL CREDIT UNION eCHECKING SWITCH TODAY 5111RRT CHECKING CRImSOn CHECKING Tuesday Special: 994 1/4 lb Hamburgers! ()a y kin wish purchase of Fries, drink, 03103 rims Of ZUCC131 Fries, Since 1981 University Location 222 S. 1300 E. • 582-7200 Also at: 1800 S. State • 255-5000 |